Bachaloria vs Thanaweya Amma: totals, attempts and tracks compared

The short answer

The Egyptian Bachaloria is not a replacement for Thanaweya Amma — it is a second, optional path that a student chooses after preparatory school. Parliament approved it as optional in July 2025, and the Education Minister put it plainly: "a new path, not a replacement for Thanaweya Amma."

The main difference: the Bachaloria total is 600 marks, built up across the second and third secondary years, and every exam has two sittings a year with your best mark counted. The Thanaweya Amma total is 320 marks, from the third-year exams.

The differences, in numbers

Compulsory or optional? The Bachaloria is optional. After preparatory school a student has two routes: Thanaweya Amma as it is, or the Bachaloria.
The total: the Bachaloria is out of 600, each subject out of 100. Thanaweya Amma is out of 320: Arabic 80, the first foreign language 60, and 60 for each of the three specialised subjects.
Which years count: in the Bachaloria, the second and third secondary years — 4 subjects in the second year (400 marks) and 2 in the third (200 marks). The first year is a preparatory year and its marks do not count towards the certificate. In Thanaweya Amma, the final total comes from the third year.
How many attempts: in the Bachaloria each year has two exam sittings. The first is compulsory and free — May for the second year, June for the third. The second is optional and costs 200 EGP per subject — July for the second year, August for the third. Your best mark in each subject is the one that counts.
Specialising: the Bachaloria has four tracks from the second year: Medicine and Life Sciences, Engineering and Computer Science, Business, and Arts and Humanities. Thanaweya Amma has streams: Science, Mathematics and Literary.
Religious education in the Bachaloria: a core subject on every track that is not added to the total; you need at least 70% to pass it.

One condition you need to know

Under the Minister's decision of August 2026, to sit the exam you must have completed at least 60% of the weekly and monthly assignments and assessments in each subject. Keeping up through the year is part of the system itself, not an extra.

Which should you choose?

That is a decision for you and your family. What sets the Bachaloria apart, in the Minister's words, is more flexibility and more chances, and specialising early. The other side of it: the 60% condition means following each subject week by week from the start of the year.

On GoBachaloria

GoBachaloria is built for the Bachaloria: every subject has several teachers to choose from, and each teacher's first five videos are free. See the second-year subjects, and read what the Bachaloria total is out of and how it adds up.

Sources

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